Once More, With Feeling
by Stratusfied247
Summary: Stefan Cassadine has returned, and he goes to the one person left in Port Charles that he feels he can trust; his sister, Alexis.  This is a one-shot story, and is NOT a ship fic.


**_Author's Note: This is a one-shot story. It is NOT a pairing fic. _**

Alexis stared at her brother, and she wasn't quite sure what to think of him or his story. It sounded extreme, that was for certain. Then again, did they not come from a highly extreme family? A jealous, murderous wife, the Ice Princess, and cryogenics, just to name a few of the family's more outrageous attributes and efforts, were barely something to blink an eye over. So, why should Stefan's story be any different from those.

"Once more," Alexis said as she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her stomach, "with feeling."

Stefan stared at him, and Alexis only gave him a blank stare in return. She hadn't actually expected him to understand the reference. Alexis wouldn't have understood it either, if it weren't for Molly. A girl at school told her all about this show she watched on DVD with her older sister. Molly heard about the epic romance between Angel and Buffy, and that was it. She had to have the entire series on DVD as soon as possible. Alexis was definitely going to have to have a talk with her daughter about this obsession with the elusive one true love.

"You have to give me something here, Stefan," she said as she leaned forward. Alexis dropped her arms so that her forearms lay against her thighs. Her hands dangled over her knees. "You've been gone for years, dead for as much as any of us knew, and now, here you stand with this fantastic story, and you can't even give me any emotion in it."

Some would say that Alexis was asking too much, and that she should know it. How often did Stefan Cassadine really show emotion? Alexis knew her brother better than most, however, and she knew that there were feelings within him. He worked very hard to keep them to himself, but he had shown them to her enough that now, when things were so extreme, she expected to see them. He had come to her, after all, not Nikolas. If he wanted to show himself to someone who wouldn't expect emotion from him, he could have even gone to Sam. It would have been quite the exciting introduction to her uncle.

But, no. Stefan had come to her, and Alexis was sure that that in itself was some sign of something. The two had shared their ups and downs. They had not always been on the same page, and when he had supposedly died, they were very much on different pages. They weren't even within the same book. But, if he was telling her that the out of control man they had buried had been an imposter all along, then their last time split between alpha and omega didn't even count.

"I will not stand here and give you tears, Alexis," Stefan said. "I have given you my pain. Isn't that enough?"

Alexis sighed and closed her eyes. So infuriating, her brother, and yet, she loved him. In the blink of an eye, she could go from wanting to hug him to wanting to strangle him. Often, she wanted to ask him why he couldn't be more open, and then she slapped herself in the head. No one raised by Helena Cassadine could be open with their feelings. If Nikolas hadn't been brought to Port Charles, given other influences, he would have, without a doubt, ended up like his uncle. The hard coldness that came with being raised Cassadine would have trickled down through Stefan and been left on Nikolas. Stefan would always wonder if bringing Nikolas to Port Charles was the right thing to do, but Alexis would never have any doubts. Leaving the bosom of Helena and entering a world where people could enjoy themselves without tormenting others was the best thing he could have done for Nikolas. It was the best thing any of them could have done.

Alexis's arms rose and her hands were balled in loose fists. She let her hands free, her fingers fly, as she said, "I know you're in pain, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything that woman did to you, and not being able to help you. But, Stefan, you have to admit, this entire thing... it's bizarre, even for our family."

"Really? As bizarre as you and your daughter fathering children by the same man?"

"Stefan..."

"Alexis."

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Fine, so their family was strange. And really, was the idea that Stefan had been kidnapped and held captive by his psychotic mother really so out of the question? And wasn't it right up Helena's alley to get plastic surgery for one of her boy toys to look and sound like Stefan, and then send the imposter to town in order to wreak havoc on everyone and destroy her son's reputation? Especially when she never intended for that son to see the light of day, again? In the grand scheme of the world, yes, it was out there, so out there that it could only be fantasy. In the land of the Cassadines, however, it wasn't so strange. It was pretty par for the course in the world they inhabited.

"Fine," she said, "so it's not as crazy as some of the others things that have happened. I still would have liked more from you." Alexis stood up and walked across the room. While she sat rather uncomfortably in a chair, Stefan stood across the room, at least five to ten feet away. For the most part, he still had the same stature. He stood stood with his legs together, his shoulders square, and his head held high. The main difference was that in different times, he would have stood with both hands behind his back. Now, he stood with both hands in front as they held on to the shining silver head of the cane that kept him on his feet.

A few steps away from him, Alexis stopped. She let her eyes travel the length of her brother's body, from head to toe, and then back up again. There was so much that was the same about him, yet so much so different. The one thing she'd always been able to count on was the fire in Stefan's eyes, the confidence and strength that almost slapped anyone in the face who dared to look into his eyes. Now, the fire wasn't quite so bright. Whatever had happened to him in his mother's sadistic care haunted him, and it had taken away some of his strength, some of his confidence.

Alexis took the last few steps up to him, stopping only when they were just inches apart. She rose one careful hand and rested it against his cheek. She had expected him to turn away, to back away from her. After so many years apart, how could they be so close again? Stefan didn't move away, though. In fact, he tilted his head and relaxed his neck just enough that Alexis knew she was truly cradling him.

In a soft voice, Alexis asked, "What did that woman do to you?"

There was so much pain in his eyes as he said, "Things she has wanted to do for a very long time. Many have doubted me when I told them just how much my mother hated me, how much she wanted to torture me. Is there really any doubt that can now remain?"

"That woman..." Alexis closed her eyes and let herself breathe, tried to calm herself. Her voice managed to come out calm, but the Cassadine vengeance was in her words. "If I weren't a better person, I'd have her done away with, once and for all, but I will not be the hypocrite in my daughter's eyes."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I have told Sam more than once how dangerous a man Jason Morgan is, and yet, he's the only one I would trust, right now, to truly destroy that woman. And worse, Sam would go with him. I don't care about having Helena's blood on my hands, but I will not have Sam's guilt on my shoulders. I'm sure she has done things before, but I will not ask her to do them on my behalf."

Alexis was surprised to see the smile that spread across Stefan's lips. "After all of these years and all we've been through, you would still kill for me," he said. "How very, very precious."

Alexis smirked. "If anyone else said that, I'd tell them to can the sarcasm. Coming from you, however, I'll just accept the compliment."

"A wise choice." Stefan turned his head in her palm just enough to land a quick, soft pucker against the soft skin of Alexis's palm, then pulled his hand away. Before Alexis could drop her hand, he took hold of her wrist. He lowered both of their hands to the side and said, "And while we're speaking of choices, there is one that needs to be made."

"And that is?"

"Whether or not Nikolas or anyone else needs to know that I'm alive."

"Of course, he needs to know, as do Sam, Kristina, Molly, and Spencer. They're your family, Stefan. They deserve to know that you're alive, and more importantly, especially where Nikolas is concerned, they deserve to know that you're innocent."

Stefan gave a small laugh that was close to a chuckle. Alexis didn't really have a word for it, she just knew that her brother didn't actually chuckle. "I may be innocent of these most recent misdeeds," he said, "but innocent as a whole? I think not."

"And you know full well that I wasn't talking about on a whole. If you ever had a halo, dear brother, it is bent, twisted, and nearly black with soot. And yet, you're not evil. Everything that you've done, you've done for your family. Why do you think it was so easy for us to believe that imposter was you? Helena made sure that he knew what you would claim as your motives." Alexis took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Going on, she said, "Besides, there is one very important fact that will not only prove your story true, but will make Nikolas really open his eyes."

"And what would that be?"

"We had a funeral for you," Alexis told him. "Your body, your imposter's body, was buried, and here you are. It would only take one quick DNA test to prove that you are who you say you are, and an exhumation to prove that he wasn't you. That will be enough to mollify the police."

"And Nikolas?"

"You're enough to make Nikolas happy. He has missed you," Alexis said, "and he has needed you. We've all needed you." Alexis put her hands on Stefan's shoulders and looked into his eyes as she said, "I'm so glad to have you back."

Her brother wasn't one for hugs and emotion, obviously, but Alexis couldn't help herself. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Years ago, before Kristina and Molly, before Sam, Alexis would have never held him so tightly, but all of this time as a mother and as a friend had brought her emotions to the surface. She needed to hold him, to feel him against her to know that he was real. Stefan hesitated a second, his body stiffened, but in the end, he did hug her, and he did let his body loosen. And Alexis had needed that, too, because this could have easily been another imposter. And while it still could be an imposter, one who had studied Stefan more closely than the last, Alexis felt she knew. That moment's pause, that moment where he didn't know what he should do, because normal human interaction didn't come easily for him... That pause told her that this was really her brother, and he hadn't done any of those horrible things.

Alexis pulled back and looked up at Stefan. Stefan reached up and brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "So emotional."

"I'm a mother," Alexis said with a laugh. "It's a side effect of the condition."

"It looks good on you."

"And life looks good on you." Alexis quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, then smiled up at her brother. "Come on, then," she said, "it's time for you to become reacquainted with your family. And when you tell Nikolas your harrowing tale of survival? Remember what I said after you told me. Once more, but with real feeling this time."


End file.
